Best of a bad lotDarren Redman | First Published: July 2010

There is a saying in the fishing world that the only time an angler tells the truth is when he calls another angler a liar! But I’m trying to be honest in saying that August is the worst month to fish around Tathra and things are quiet at present.

That said, for seasoned anglers there are fish to be caught.

The best of the action is definitely the offshore bottom fishing. There are snapper around in numbers and those who anchor and berley will have the best results on larger fish.

North from Goalen Head, Arragunnu or Nelsons Headland will produce in as deep as current will allow, while down south out from White Rock can be similarly rewarding.

Offshore winds enable you to get close to shore and work soft plastics on the inshore reefs for snapper. These fish might not be as big as those that come up the berley trails but they are great fun and there is always some interesting by-catch.

Drift fishing is still the preferred method over the reefs and sand. Around rocks and gravel you are likely to encounter morwong, perch, jackets and wrasse and on the wider reefs, Tassie trumpeter.

Out from the beaches there are reasonable numbers of sand flatties with the odd gummy shark. Around 30m is a common depth to start north and south of the Kianinny Bay ramp.

There is plenty of fun to be had around the Tathra Wharf. Arrow squid are attracted to this area where some evenings they are so thick you can’t miss. You also can expect to encounter yellowtail, slimy mackerel, garfish, trevally, salmon and tailor.

Close to the rocks, luderick are taken on green weed and with them are drummer, which can be taken on cabbage weed or cunjevoi, while bread will catch both.

BEACHES FAIR

Beach fishing is fair for salmon and the odd tailor on lures while bait will also account for bream and trevally. The most productive beaches have been Bournda to the south; Gillards and Cowdroys to the north and Tathra Main near the entrance to the Bega River.

Wallagoot Lake, south of Tathra, is land locked even after the rain but is hosting some very large snapper and tailor which can be taken on lures.

In the Bega River bream and estuary perch (closed season until September 1) are holding tight on structure and a fair amount of effort is needed to extract them.

The rock wall adjacent to the boat ramp and the bridge pylons are producing good luderick on weed, while anglers chasing flathead have been pleasantly surprised with the odd thumper.

The floods earlier in the year have opened the Bega River to its best level for maybe 20 years, which will only be good news for anglers in coming months.